Indiana Passes Landmark Eyewitness Identification Reform Bill

Indiana has passed a new landmark eyewitness identification bill that is designed to address the leading cause of wrongful convictions. The bill was was championed by exonerees, the Notre Dame Exoneration Justice Clinic, and the Innocence Project, which has a great post summarizing some of the key parts of the bill:

In this post, I just wanted to note a couple of other key provisions in the bill that I’d like to see other jurisdictions adopt.

The first is a provision that provides that “[a]n in person witness identification…shall be recorded by video, unless a law enforcement recording device is not available to the officer and recording is otherwise not practicable under the circumstances.” This is big for the same reason that recording “confessions” should be standard operating procedure. A video recording can prevent b0th an officer intentionally mischaracterizing an eyewitness identification or unintentionally failing to capture something important that happened during the process.

The second is a provision that provides that “[f]ailure to comply with the requirements of this section is admissible to support a claim of eyewitness misidentification, if the evidence is not otherwise inadmissible.” This is key for me. It allows the defense to explain to the jury exactly why these identification procedures are in place and why the State’s failure to comply with them could have contaminated the identification.

-CM